Rip current alert issued for South Florida beaches

Alert in effect through 7 p.m. Saturday

December 2, 2011|By Wayne K. Roustan, Sun Sentinel

The National Weather Service has issued a rip current alert in effect through 7 p.m. Saturday.

Northeast winds around 20 mph combined with strong waves will lead to a high risk of rip currents at beaches in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties. Dangerous rip currents will remain an ongoing threat along the Atlantic coast through this weekend, forecasters said.

Swimming is not advised.

Rip currents are powerful channels of water flowing quickly away from shore that can pull a swimmer out to sea.

If you become caught in a rip current, do not panic. Remain calm and begin to swim parallel to shore until you are away from the force of the rip current then begin to swim back to the beach, lifeguards advise.